Your Turn: NASCAR after Dodge

Updated: August 8, 2012, 6:58 PM ET
ESPN.com

Our experts get to have their say every Tuesday, debating the week's burning questions in our Turn 4 wrangle.

Now it's Your Turn.

SportsNation

Which car manufacturer would you like to see replace Dodge in NASCAR?

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    25%
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    4%
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    7%
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    48%
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    16%

Discuss (Total votes: 10,392)

We're going to select one hot-button topic each week and let y'all have at it. We invite you to cast your vote in the accompanying poll and then steer down to the Conversation section and tell us why you voted the way you did.

Prefer Twitter? You can tweet your response using the hashtag #ESPNYourTurn.

We will collect the top tweets and most engaging comments and publish them below. Check back throughout the day to see if yours gets posted.

This week's question: Which car manufacturer would you like to see replace Dodge in NASCAR?

Dodge announced on Tuesday that it will be leaving NASCAR at season's end.

Penske Racing has been the only NASCAR organization to compete under the Dodge banner since 2010. But Penske announced in March that it would rejoin the Ford brand in 2013. Penske Racing fielded Fords between 1994 and 2002.

So what say you, NASCAR Nation? Which automaker should join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota in NASCAR's stable?

Now have at it …

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• sinisterninja -- As a newer fan of NASCAR (over the past several years), I'd love to see each of these automakers join the field, but specifically BMW and Honda. They both have such rich and innovative histories in racing, and I think it would certainly help expand this American brand of racing worldwide. I'd particularly love to see how Honda handles the transition; would they run a larger version of the Accord, or would they go with something more like what Americans refer to as Acura? Pretty exciting stuff!

• alittlebitcntry -- This is just a sad conversation to be having, for those of us who know what the word NASCAR actually stood for. Yes times change, but that doesn't mean you forget what started the sport, and who use to fill the tracks. I hope they just bring back a GM, Ford, or Chrysler brand, though the later doesn't seem realistic right now. This was an American made sport, powered by American muscle, and American ingenuity. I know, an American who loves what was great about a sport, how stupid and close minded ...

• n8lbs10_13 -- Out of those four, I would say Honda has the best chance to compete with Ford, Chevy and Toyota. But, I would love for either VW or BMW also. Question: Would VW go with one of their models, or one of the other manufacturers it owns, like Audi or Porsche?

• txtechjmacattack -- I've always wanted to see BMW in NASCAR, simply because I like the brand, they have a rather successful history in other forms of Motorsport, and I think one of their cars fit to COT specs would look rather sick. It would probably take another manufacturer getting in -- Honda seems to be the brand getting a lot of mentions on this subject -- but I just think it would be huge for NASCAR if they could get a big time European automaker in the fray.

• auckland95 -- Audi won Le Mans with a hybrid, wonder if they would try NASCAR? Hyundai is coming no matter what. Holden of Australia is bringing V8 supercars to circuit of the americas, would they try with Marcos?

• A_Palm_Tree -- What I want: BMW. What's realistic: VW and Honda. I just don't see BMW getting into nascar.

• hustis888 -- I would love to see Junior doing 200+ in a Volkswagen Beetle at Daytona!!!! Well, maybe not.

• rbartus88 -- I voted for BMW for the simple reason that they've had a long lasting involvement in motorsports. Their factory support has been very strong in the series they're involved in, and that's exactly what a new program in NASCAR will need to survive and prosper.

• somebody19 -- As much as it would be funny to see a Volkswagen Jetta on the track, the truth is losing Dodge sucks. Hyundai's probably the more likely option, or Mazda.

• welaf -- BMW and VW! that would bring all of Europe in as fans possibly. cash cow!!

• Phoenix2012-110 -- I'm not sure I really "want" to see a specific car maker replace Dodge. I honestly don't care who enters the sport, all I would care about was that someone deemed a move to NASCAR to be a great investment for their car company. It sucks that Dodge is leaving, but it also opens the door for potentially new car companies- I believe that Kia/Hyundai and VW/Audi would likely be the two companies most likely to join any time soon, although I'm not sure that either of them will join.

Jayski

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That said, I'm not really sure anyone will join NASCAR in the wake of Dodge leaving. Dodge left because they couldn't get a marque team under their umbrella, and Dodge didn't want to have to basically supply everything to the team. Someone like Furniture Row or RPM or Phoenix Racing (the three teams rumored to be talking with Dodge about a switch) just didn't have the capabilities of carrying the banner for the entire manufacturer. And really, all three of them combined don't really have the capabilities to carry the banner like Penske did or like Roush does for Ford.

When you're faced with the reality of likely having to either somehow start building engines for teams, or buy out what is currently the only Cup engine shop for your company, simply to get a team on the scale of Furniture Row or, at best, Richard Petty Motorsports, to drive your cars, then it really becomes a lot easier to just scrap all plans altogether and leave. And quite honestly, I don't fault Dodge for leaving.

That said, who should join? I believe that NASCAR will no longer ask any new manufacturer to help the Truck series, like Dodge and Toyota did before entering Cup competition, mostly because the two most likely (in my opinion) new manufacturers don't have Trucks in their car lineup. I believe that whoever joins NASCAR next- if anyone does, within the next few years- will be a current manufacturer in the Grand-Am series. Kia, VW/Audi, Mazda, and Honda would appear the most likely to join. Honda has the "advantage" of also having a Truck in their lineup. That said, I truly believe that Kia would be the most likely to join NASCAR, although quite honestly I don't expect any new manufacturers any time soon.

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